Zoology TY week is a programme of events put on for 24 transition year (4th year) students per year, drawn from schools across Ireland. Gaining a place is a competitive process, with 90 or so applications in each year so far. The winners get to experience what it’s like to be a zoology undergraduate, participating in workshops, practicals, lectures and discussions, with a tree walk, a bird race and a mini-field trip thrown in. They get hands-on experience and also the opportunity to discuss the life of a zoologist with undergraduates, post-graduates and teaching staff. The sessions are designed to show the breadth of the subject, ranging from consideration of tiny biology like the genetic analysis of what makes an embryo grow correctly, through individual animals in their parasitology, marine and terrestrial biology, and behaviour, up to the entire system in ecology and evolutionary biology. They are taught by the same lecturers as teach our undergraduates, so the TY class get to know their future teachers too. The following blog consists of paragraphs written by the Zoology TY class of 2019, half way through their week.
Applications for next year’s TY week will open in November – look for an application form on the TCD Zoology website then!
Continue reading “How to be a zoologist – Transition Year Week 2019”
